Chile hospital allows family members to visit COVID-19 patients

As the death toll from COVID-19 nears five lakh, a hospital in Santiago, Chile is now allowing families to visit coronavirus patients. Chile, where fatalities are surging at an alarming rate has reported 2,50,767 cases and 4,505 deaths till now, the latest tally by John Hopkins University stated. 

Read: Chile Increases Its Estimate Of Cases And Deaths From Coronavirus

At the hospital in Santiago, all the visitors are reportedly screened for the virus and issued the same protective gears as by doctors before they are allowed to enter. They are then taken to sealed glasshouse patients are kept. Carlos Romero, head of the hospital’s Intensive Care Units said that as an organisation, they have always advocated not only for their patients but also their families and have continued to push their presence at the patients' bedsides.

Located in Independencia 

The hospital is in Independencia neighbourhood, an area which has the Santiago’s largest number of cases. As per reports, the director, telephone’s patients' families every day at noon to keep them posted. Elaborating further, he said that the medics want to know they have done everything to save patients and if that’s not possible we make sure the patient is not in pain and family spends some time with them. 

Read: Chile's Virus Cases Top 250,000, Death Toll 4,505

Read: Chileans Mass Produce Caskets To Deal With COVID Onslaught

COVID-19 in Chile 

According to Chile's official tally, 3,804 new cases of infection and three more COVID-19 fatalities were registered in the previous 24 hours. The number of active cases currently stands at 35,692, with 2,009 patients in intensive care units, including 1,720 on ventilators. Of those, 392 were reported to be in critical condition. In the previous 24 hours, 12,707 tests were carried out, bringing the total number of tests processed since March to 995,060.

According to Health Minister Enrique Paris, the infection rate has risen in the regions of Nuble, Tarapaca, Antofagasta, O'Higgins, and the capital Santiago and its metropolitan area, which is the epicentre of the national outbreak.

Read: Chileans Mass Produce Caskets To Deal With COVID Onslaught

(With inputs from agencies)

Image credits: AP